Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri...

Today is 1 Syawal, better known as Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Is it “Aidilfitri” one word or is it two words “Aidil Fitri”? I have seen both versions in both the official and unofficial documents. I suppose it does not really matter as long as we meant it the way we are suppose to meant it. And what’s important is our sincerity, KEIKHLASAN.

To the readers of this blog, there must be a few, very few may be, as the counter keeps ticking even without me visiting it, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin. Please forgive me if there are parts of my ramblings that may have offended any of you. As I had said in my earlier entries, I meant well. I did not mean any harm to anybody, anyone or any soul.

This year’s Hari Raya will be a bit odd. No Istana open house due to the H1N1 situation will be the most significant. To many people, even to foreigners and tourists, Istana Open House is the main event of Hari Raya. To Government Officers, by tradition, most will be heading to Istana on the first day back at work. The highlight of personally greeting His Majesty and the Royal Family is something to look forward too. Add to that the sumptuous spread of food served. Offices will be almost deserted. Strangely for the whole day. So this year we will see the office with a bit more people. No more taking the opportunity of “escaping” from work after Istana visit. Still, no Istana open house will be making this Hari Raya less exciting to most people.

On H1N1, the health authorities advised everyone to be vigilant. Provide sanitisers or at least hand washing facilities. Good advice indeed. On the flip side, hand sanitisers whose price are already exorbitant, will now rocket up. I am sure nobody will hesitate to shake hands berziarah. If we follow our own religion’s advice, we are asked to wash our hands before eating. Stick to that, insyallah we will be alright. Worst case scenario, which is not impossible, we come across someone who will wash his or her hand every few handshakes, carrying with him or her a portable sanitiser. The pocket must be bulging with the sanitisers adding to the things already in the pocket, wallet, keys, phones etc. What’s important is to be vigilant, keep high personal hygiene to avoid hesitancy in berziarah.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI, MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN....

P.S.
Over the years, the number of Hari Raya cards had been on a rapid decline. Short Messaging Service, SMS and emails had taken over the role of cards. This year, the numbers will decline further, even SMS greetings are expected to be lower as Facebook and other social networking services provides a faster and easier platform to send greetings. A simple posting on the Wall is all it takes to greet every single person in our friends list. Less tasking for the fingers clicking when sending SMS greetings. Wonder what will be the future medium will be. May be just thinking of sending greetings is enough to send it to the recipient. But until now nothing beats the feeling of getting Hari Raya Cards......